6 ways to improve your self-confidence

How often do we admire people for their confident personality and their outgoing nature? Such people are surely the talk of the town and do get away with most of the limelight. Those of us who struggle with confidence in life and feel nervous whenever we have to deal with anyone in public wish to have the self-confidence to express ourselves well and impress others. Asia Pacific Institute of Management, assessing the need of some students who lack self-confidence and feel hesitant to appear for interviews, shares some valuable tips for boosting self confidence-

1. Feel great about yourself– Why should you wait to have someone tell you how good you are? Begin by doing it yourself. Tell yourself that you are good enough and better than others and you could do a great job of anything you are assigned to. Once you feel good about yourself, you will be able to see a reflection in your work and personality with immediate effect.  In case you are feeling low about anything, give yourself a pep talk. It helps to shift focus from negative thoughts to positive ones. Focus on looking good always. Take care of yourself. Make sure you are fit and healthy which shall add more energy to your life.
2. Leverage your strengths-Thinking more about your weaknesses is a negative sign. Stop thinking about what you’re bad at and start thinking about what you’re good at and work on that. Embrace your strengths.  Look at all areas in your life. This shall help in making you believe in yourself and shall add a great deal to your self worth.
3. Body Language– Confident people walk and talk differently. Their postures are different. They sit upright. When they talk, they look into the eyes of others. Their heads are always held high and their bodies are not slouched up. Scared or unconfident people shy away from attention and they limit the surface of exposure, they become withdrawn. To feel and appear confident it is important to open up your body in a welcoming body language.
4. Speak Louder and clearer– No one pays any attention to someone who mumbles words or is difficult to understand. Introvert people speak in low tones so that they do not draw attention.

How you talk is directly linked to your level of confidence. Meekly conveyed plans often show the inability or weakness to carry out the plans. Assertively and strongly conveyed plans portray the capability to take them to completion and are more convincing.

• Keep away from toxic people– If you are in the company of those people who are consistently trying to snub you down or make you doubt your own self worth, its time you ditch them. Such toxic relationships prevent us from working on ourselves and in gaining self worth. It is best to do away with such pull down relationships.
• Work out more often– A healthy body is a great boon. It helps to improve self esteem and it gives you a healthy mind too. Physical work out at least five times a week not just gives you an enviable body but also releases hormones which help in the feel good mood. A great workout not just relieves stress and removes aggression; it releases endorphin which makes you feel good and confident of your own self.

The above 6 ways shall go a long way in exuding your self confidence. Just remember it’s not an overnight transformation. It’s a process. But Asia Pacific ensures that if applied consistently these tips shall do a great deal to boost your self confidence- amongst friends and in your professional circle too.